Part of the EU since July 2013 and the Schengen Zone as of 1st January 2023, visa requirements for Croatia are in line with the rest of these unions. Read on below for the current visa regulations.
General Visa Requirements for Croatia
As of 1st January 2023, Croatia is part of the Schengen Zone, and visa requirements for Croatia fall in line with the rest of the Zone.
Many foreign visitors do not require visas to enter the Schengen Zone; citizens of the U.K., EU countries, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand do not need visas to visit Croatia or the rest of the Schengen Zone. Visitors can visit Croatia/the Schengen Zone for up to and including 90 days in any 180-day period. This means that should you stay in Croatia/the Schengen Zone for 90 days, you must then leave the Zone for another 90 days before you can return again.
If you are a passport holder from any country not mentioned above, please check the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website (or a similar website for another Schengen Area country) for visa requirements for Croatia/the Schengen Zone.
You can apply for a Schengen visa from a Croatian Embassy/Consular Department in your own country, or from the Embassy of another Schengen Area country. However, if you are planning on travelling around the Schengen Zone, you should apply for a Schengen visa from the country where you will spend the longest stay.
There is a list of Embassies on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. This list will also tell you which Embassy to contact if there is no Croatian Embassy in your home country; the site will also tell you if there is a visa centre in your country. We also have a list of some of the Croatian Embassies around the world.
UK residents may like to take a look at the Croatian Embassy in London’s website: mvep.gov.hr/uk/en.
Entry/Exit System (EES)
As of 10th April 2026, the new system for entering and exiting the Schengen Zone – the Entry/Exit System (EES) – is fully in operation across the Schengen Zone, including Croatia. Travellers who do not need a visa to visit Croatia (e.g. those from the UK or the U.S.), as well as travellers on short-stay visas, need to provide passport details and biometric data (fingerprints and photo) when entering the Schengen Zone for the first time. Subsequent visits will see your information checked against this initial information.
For more information about what this is and what it means for travellers, please see: The New Entry/Exit System and Croatia.
ETIAS
A new visa waiver scheme will also come into play in the near future – ETIAS. Travellers who do not require a visa to the EU/Croatia will need to obtain an ETIAS before travelling to the EU/Croatia. (It is similar to the ESTA that is required to enter the U.S.) This is expected to cost €7, and you will be able to apply for this online. Each approval will last for three years. Find out more: ETIAS and Croatia.
ETIAS is scheduled to come into effect six months after the EU’s new Entry-Exit System. It is therefore expected to be introduced in late 2026.
Length of Stay in Croatia
We’ve already stated this above, but we’ll reiterate it because it is important – non-EU visitors can only visit Croatia/the Schengen Zone for up to and including 90 days in any 180-day period. You may not necessarily be staying a full 90 days in one go, perhaps 7 days one month, 20 days another month, another 7 days in a third month…
Altogether, the total length of your stay must not exceed 90 days in any one 180-day period. The European Commission have a short-stay visa calculator to help you calculate your length of stay in the Schengen Zone.
Now that Croatia is in the Schengen Zone, visitors can no longer use the country as a place to stay whilst ‘resetting’ their Schengen day limit!
Validity of Croatian visas issued before 31st December 2022
If you are in possession of a valid Croatian visa issued before this date, you will be able to use it to visit Croatia. However, you cannot use it to visit other countries in the Schengen Zone.
Is Croatia in the Schengen Zone?
As of 1st January 2023, yes!
Land and sea border controls with the rest of the Schengen Zone have been abolished from that date, whilst at airports, controls were removed on 26th March 2023.
Entering Croatia with an ID card
Citizens of EU countries may enter Croatia using their national identity cards (if these exist) instead of a passport. Otherwise, passports are required to enter Croatia.
Visa Requirements for Croatia after Brexit
British citizens do not need a visa to visit Croatia. As mentioned above, UK visitors are allowed to spend a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period in Croatia.
More info on the effects of Brexit on British travellers can be found here: Visiting Croatia after Brexit.
Once ETIAS is introduced (see above), British travellers will need to obtain one before travelling to Croatia.
Working in Croatia
As we’re a travel website, we don’t really cover long-term and work visas for Croatia. However, for information on long-term visas, please see these pages on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website – Stay of Foreigners – and the Ministry of the Interior website: Stay & Work.
If you are a British citizen, you may find the following Foreign Office helpful: Travel to Croatia for Work.